HOUSTON – It seems hard to believe given his offensive struggles the last three seasons, but Victor Robles’ pending return should be a real boon to the Nationals’ offensive fortunes.

Robles, out since May 7 with a back injury, appears to be in the final stages of a rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester and could be activated this weekend, perhaps even in time for tonight’s series opener against the Marlins at Nationals Park.

Will the 26-year-old center fielder with a career .670 OPS really make much positive difference at the plate? If he performs anything like he did prior to suffering the injury while sliding into second base in Arizona, yes.

Robles was making some real strides through the season’s first month-plus. It’s not just his .292 batting average and .388 on-base percentage, impressive as those are. It’s his approach at the plate, a vast improvement from 2020-22.

Robles has always been one of the freest swingers in baseball, often to his detriment. His strikeout rate the last three seasons was a lofty 25.1 percent, his walk rate a scant 6.1 percent that plummeted to 4.2 percent in 2022.

HOUSTON – Minute Maid Park has always been kind to Patrick Corbin, and we’re not just talking about Game 7 of the 2019 World Series here.

While that epic, three-inning relief appearance may have represented the pinnacle of the left-hander’s career and proved essential to the Nationals’ championship victory that night, Corbin has enjoyed pitching in this supposedly hitter-friendly park for years.

When he took the mound for the bottom of the fifth tonight, Corbin was the proud owner of a 16 2/3-inning scoreless streak at the home of the Astros. He hadn’t surrendered a run here since Aug. 18, 2012 as a rookie with the Diamondbacks.

This place, for whatever reason, just brings out the best in him.

Then Corbin began pitching the bottom of the fifth, at which point the streak ended, the Astros reminded him just how powerful they still are and the Nationals reminded everyone how much has changed since the night of Oct. 30, 2019.

The Nationals and Phillies took the field on a steamy, early June evening on South Capitol Street in a position neither likely expected to find itself at this stage of the season. An overachieving Nats club entered the night only one game behind the defending National League champions, who haven’t come close to living up to their lofty expectations two months into the 2023 campaign.

What took place over the ensuing three-plus hours suggested this head-to-head competition may not be nearly as lopsided as everyone assumed.

Despite blowing an early six-run lead, the Nationals rallied to re-take the lead in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a clutch, two-out stolen base by Alex Call and Lane Thomas’ subsequent RBI single. And Davey Martinez’s overworked, recently ineffective “A” bullpen somehow found a way to close out an 8-7 victory before a crowd of 29,827 to catch their division rivals in unlikely fashion.

Yes, the Nationals and Phillies are now tied in the NL East, one team the proud owner of a 25-32 record, the other a not-so-proud owner of the same record.

"It means a lot," Thomas said. "Nobody really expected us to be here. I think we take a few series like we have over the last month, and we could be sitting pretty good here in a few months."

LOS ANGELES – Joey Meneses has played plenty of games in the outfield in his career, just not yet this season. Lane Thomas has played plenty of games in center field in his career, just not yet this season.

Davey Martinez decided it was time to put an end to both of those streaks tonight when he filled out his lineup card for the Nationals’ game against the Dodgers. Meneses, whose four appearances in the field this year have all come at first base, is starting in right field. Thomas, who has only played right field since Opening Day, is making his 2023 debut in center field.

The impetus for tonight’s alignment: An opportunity to give Alex Call his first day off since May 6, when Victor Robles injured his back. Call had started 21 consecutive games in center field in Robles’ absence, and though he initially got off to a strong start at the plate, he is batting just .125 with three doubles, seven walks and 16 strikeouts over his last 16 games.

“For me, it’s about giving Alex Call a day, let him recoup a little bit,” Martinez said. “Get him out, get him some extra hitting. And then I told him, 'make sure you’re ready to come in and play defense, or whatever we need you for.'”

Thomas had been a semi-regular in center field since joining the Nationals in August 2021, but he has settled in full-time in right field this season, and has looked more comfortable in that corner position. When needing someone to step in to play center field whenever Robles was out of the lineup, Martinez went with Call, preferring to leave Thomas in one position.

LOS ANGELES – Victor Robles bounded into the visitors’ clubhouse at Dodger Stadium this afternoon, grabbed his glove and headed out toward the field, a hop in his step not seen much over the last three-plus weeks as he’s resided on the injured list.

“Doing much better,” the Nationals center fielder said as he headed out for a pregame workout.

Out since May 7 with back spasms, Robles hadn’t been doing much activity on a baseball field through his first two weeks on the IL. That’s finally starting to change, and today offered an opportunity to increase his workload.

“He’s actually doing a little bit of running, some agility stuff,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He’s been hitting off the tee, doing some flips. So he’s definitely progressing a little bit. He feels a lot better, which is a great sign.”

If things go well today, Martinez said Robles may start hitting soft-toss on the field before Tuesday’s game. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s that close to returning to the active roster, though. This type of injury requires patience and the understanding it impacts all aspects of his game.

The Nationals’ clutch hits have come in bunches. Either they get a lot or none at all.

And their bullpen hasn’t always been clutch. Either its lockdown or shaky.

For the first half of today’s finale against the Padres, it looked like it was going to be one of those games where they would get neither. But then the script flipped in the seventh inning, as the Nats put up five runs to take a 6-5 lead and the relievers kept that way for Kyle Finnegan and Hunter Harvey in the eighth and ninth.

Finnegan made it through his inning clean. But Harvey, seeking his third save of the season, couldn’t close out the victory.

Facing the Padres’ 2-3-4 hitters, Harvey gave up back-to-back singles to Jake Cronenworth and Juan Soto (who finished the day 1-for-1 with four walks). Harvey was able to then strike out the next two batters, but then served up a three-run home run to Rougned Odor on a 99 mph fastball that ended up just inside the right field foul pole.

For a team that doesn’t hit for a lot of power but has more than a few fast players in the lineup on a regular basis, the Nationals really haven’t run that much this season.

They rank 25th in the majors in stolen bases. They’re 19th in FanGraphs’ overall team baserunning metric.

The Nats did run more than they usually do Wednesday night against the Padres. And in nearly every instance, it paid off and helped carry them to their 5-3 victory.

“We want to play our game,” manager Davey Martinez said. “If a chance arises to do some things, we’re going to try to push the envelope a little bit and do it. These guys are all ready for it. As soon as they get on first base, they’re looking at me: ‘I’m ready, I’m ready!’ Under some circumstances, we can. And today was one of those where we could push the envelope a little bit.”

The Nationals had two stolen bases in the game, one by Luis Garcia, one by CJ Abrams. But that doesn’t tell the full story. Abrams’ seventh-inning steal actually turned into a two-baser when San Diego catcher Brett Sullivan’s throw wound up in shallow center field.

It’s not exactly a beautiful day for baseball in the nation’s capital. Rain is expected all afternoon, so there’s a reasonable chance the second game of his four-game series between the Nationals and Mets doesn’t start on time. Will it be played at all today? Well, according to my sources (aka the same weather app all of you use), it’s supposed to rain from 2-7 p.m., then clear up after that. So, this late-afternoon game could very well turn into a night game. Stay tuned.

The Nats are looking to bounce back from a tough, one-run loss Friday night in which their starter lasted only four innings. They’ll need more than that from Trevor Williams, who faces his former team for the second time this season. Williams wasn’t great two weeks ago at Citi Field, allowing four runs on nine hits in five innings. The Nationals could sure use a more efficient outing from the right-hander today.

Williams was opposed that night by Joey Lucchesi, and he’ll again be opposed by the Mets left-hander today. The Nats got to Lucchesi for three runs in 5 1/3 innings, with Alex Call homering. Call is batting fifth today, ahead of Dominic Smith, Jeimer Candelario and Stone Garrett (who gets the nod in left field).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Rain, 68 degrees, wind 9 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
2B Luis García
DH Joey Meneses
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Alex Call
1B Dominic Smith
3B Jeimer Candelario
LF Stone Garrett
SS CJ Abrams

The Nationals are enjoying the last three games at home after entering this homestand with a sub-.500 record on South Capitol Street and having dropped two of three to the Pirates over the weekend and the series opener to the Cubs on Monday.

But it all came together these last three days in the forms of a 4-1 win Tuesday, a 2-1 win yesterday and a 4-3 win this afternoon, this one delivered by Alex Call’s walk-off home run down the left-field line to send the announced crowd of 18,577 home happy.

The win was the Nationals’ third in a row and sealed their third series win in their last four matchups. It was also completed in 1 hour and 55 minutes, the third-fastest game in the majors this season.

Coming up for his fourth at-bat, Call had already had an eventful day. Starting in center field for Victor Robles, he made a spectacular diving catch to rob Dansby Swanson of a hit in the seventh and preserve a strong outing by Patrick Corbin. But at the plate, he was less fortunate with an 0-for-3 start and two hard lineouts to third baseman Patrick Wisdom.

That’s why you always look to the next one.

One-plus months into this season, Davey Martinez’s offensive philosophy has become pretty well established, certainly when it comes to his regular 8-9-1 hitters: If CJ Abrams gets on base and there’s an opportunity to play for one run, Victor Robles and/or Alex Call will probably be asked to bunt.

It happened twice tonight, in both the third and fifth innings, and the end result of all that was one run. One that was made possible only because of an error on Robles’ sacrifice bunt attempt in the third.

As such, when Abrams, Robles and Call came back to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, this game was now tied. This time, each was allowed to swing away. And lo and behold, would you guess what happened next? Each delivered a clutch hit, combining to drive in three runs and propel the Nationals to a cathartic, 4-1 victory over the Cubs.

"It's nice to bunt, but you think about giving up outs," Martinez said when asked what made the strategy in the seventh different from the third and fifth. "At that particular moment in the seventh, I said: Hey man, we need to put some runs on the board. And they're swinging the bats well. So you give them a chance to swing. And they came through, which was awesome."

Abrams’ single to right, which brought Dominic Smith home from second, provided the go-ahead RBI. Robles’ infield single, a sharp chopper to third that ate up Patrick Wisdom, kept the rally going. And Call’s double to the gap in left-center brought both of his teammates home and provided the entire dugout reason to celebrate a three-run rally.

The Nationals had a chance to win the opener of today’s doubleheader but couldn’t take advantage of their scoring opportunities and then watched as their “B” bullpen gave up the lead late. They’ll hope to jump out to a lead in tonight’s second game against the Pirates, giving Davey Martinez reason to turn to his “A” bullpen to close it out.

Chad Kuhl gets the start against his former team. Emotions will be high for the right-hander, but the Nationals need him focused on throwing strikes and avoiding the walks and high pitch count that plagued him in Minnesota one week ago. With Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey and Mason Thompson all fresh, they need only five decent innings from Kuhl to put themselves in position to win.

The lineup includes a few changes from the opener. Lane Thomas takes a seat, with Alex Call shifting to right field and Victor Robles returning to the lineup in his familiar center field position. Keibert Ruiz will catch and bat fifth after backup Riley Adams did a nice job in his place this afternoon, collecting two hits and throwing out a would-be basestealer.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. PITTSBURGH PIRATES (Game 2)
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 69 degrees, wind 5 mph right field to left field

NATIONALS
RF Alex Call
2B Luis García
3B Jeimer Candelario
DH Joey Meneses
C Keibert Ruiz
1B Dominic Smith
LF Stone Garrett
SS CJ Abrams
CF Victor Robles

MINNEAPOLIS – The Nationals aren’t going to score 10 runs every day. They know that. They know as much fun as Saturday’s lopsided win over the Twins was, that’s not often going to be their path to victory.

For these Nationals to win, execution in key moments is imperative. If they only provide themselves with a handful of legitimate scoring opportunities each game, they’re going to have to make the most of them and hope their pitching is good enough to make it stand up.

The pitching was good enough this afternoon at Target Field. Patrick Corbin gave up three runs in six innings, a quality start that can only be deemed a success for the long-struggling left-hander. The lineup, however, did not come close to making the most of its few scoring opportunities, in one particular instance giving away outs in spectacular fashion to help make a 3-1 loss to Minnesota possible.

Thus did the Nats fail to do something they haven’t done in nearly two years: sweep a three-game series, last achieved in June 2021 against the Pirates. And they certainly didn’t do something they hadn’t done in nearly four years: sweep a road series, last achieved in August 2019 against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

"The guys played hard, and they played hard today," manager Davey Martinez said. "To come out of here, when these guys have been playing well, and win two out of three with a day off coming up tomorrow, it feels good."

Victor Robles is getting his first day off of the season tonight, which isn’t all that newsworthy on its own merits. The player who will take over in center field in Robles’ absence, though, is somewhat surprising: Alex Call.

Call is getting the nod in center for tonight’s game against the Orioles instead of Lane Thomas, who will remain in right field as he has been for each of the Nats’ first 17 games this season.

The reason: Manager Davey Martinez didn’t want to move Thomas out of his regular position for just one day, given how well he has played there since Opening Day.

“I could’ve swapped everyone around,” Martinez said. “But I thought the best thing to do was leave Lane where he’s comfortable, put Call in center and leave Stone Garrett where he’s comfortable.”

Garrett is in left field for the third straight game, the only outfield position he has played so far this season in the majors.

For the fourth time in their first six games of the new season, the Nationals are facing a left-handed starter in Shane McClanahan for this afternoon’s series finale against the Rays.

While trying to avoid a sweep in just the second series of 2023 and with it still being so early, manager Davey Martinez is playing matchups, stacking his starting lineup with right-handed bats and giving some of his everyday lefty hitters a day off.

That leaves Luis García on the bench for the second straight game after he was removed from the lineup for the first time this season against rookie southpaw Josh Fleming on Tuesday. He did record a pinch-hit RBI double in the seventh against righty Kevin Kelly.

Martinez confirmed there is nothing physically wrong with his young second baseman, insisting that he's just playing the matchups. Shortstop CJ Abrams is the only left-handed hitter starting today, with Michael Chavis once again replacing García at second base.

“No, we got a run of just left-handed pitchers, so I kind of want to pick my spots with him,” Martinez said of García. “He came in yesterday, pinch-hit, hit the ball well. But this guy we're facing today, he's tough. He's tough on lefties. Abrams stays in there a little bit better on sliders, so he's gonna play short today. And Chavis swung the bat well yesterday, so I want to get him back out there again and give him a couple of days. But Luis will be back in there. We got a lefty tomorrow, we'll need him today, but he'll be out there again tomorrow.”

Though he won’t undergo an MRI until later today, Corey Dickerson was already placed on the 10-day injured list this morning by the Nationals, who couldn’t afford to wait for test results on their veteran left fielder’s left calf.

Needing another healthy outfielder on the active roster for today’s series finale against the Braves, the Nats called up Stone Garrett, who arrived from Triple-A Rochester this morning and reported straight to Nationals Park.

The team is calling Dickerson’s injury a left calf strain for now, pending results of his MRI. The 33-year-old told manager Davey Martinez he first felt tightness as he jogged off the field following the top of the seventh inning of Saturday’s 7-1 loss. Not wanting to take any chances, Martinez had utility man Ildemaro Vargas take over in left field for the final two innings of the game.

“I’d rather it be a shorter stint than try to push it and it becomes a bigger issue,” the manager said.

Dickerson, who signed a one-year, $2.25 million contract with the Nationals this winter, missed one month with a left calf strain last season while playing for the Cardinals.

The Nationals have set their Opening Day roster with no real surprises. They are bringing a standard four-man bench and eight-man bullpen to today’s season opener against the Braves.

Washington’s starting rotation includes left-handers Patrick Corbin (who gets the Opening Day start) and MacKenzie Gore, and right-handers Josiah Gray, Chad Kuhl and Trevor Williams.

The bullpen is composed of righties Carl Edwards Jr., Kyle Finnegan, Hobie Harris, Hunter Harvey, Erasmo Ramírez, Mason Thompson and Thaddeus Ward, and the lone lefty Anthony Banda.

Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams are the two catchers. CJ Abrams, Jeimer Candelario, Michael Chavis, Luis García, Joey Meneses, Dominic Smith and Ildemaro Vargas are the infielders. And Alex Call, Corey Dickerson, Victor Robles and Lane Thomas fill the outfield.

A handful of these guys are making a major league Opening Day roster for the first time, including Gore, Ward, Meneses and Call.

Opening Day is exciting for any baseball player. It’s especially exciting if you’re experiencing it in the major leagues for the first time.

That’s going to be the case for a handful of young Nationals players this afternoon on South Capitol Street.

Just like everything else in the big leagues, the pomp and circumstance around Opening Day is elevated. The decorations around the stadium. The red carpet outside the Nats dugout. And the roar of 40,000 people when your name is called as you run onto the field during pregame player introductions.

“We've been waiting for a while,” MacKenzie Gore said. “This will be my first Opening Day, so I'm looking forward to it.”

Gore, 24, made his major league debut with the Padres last April, but wasn’t included on San Diego’s Opening Day roster. Alex Call, 27, made his debut last July with the Guardians well after Opening Day. Even Joey Meneses, 30, hasn’t experienced a major league Opening Day, finally making his big league debut with the Nationals last August after 12 seasons in the minor leagues and abroad.

In the final spring tuneup before Opening Day on Thursday, two starting pitchers made their first appearances as members of the home team at Nationals Park this afternoon.

Trevor Williams, who signed a two-year, $13 million contract this offseason, and MacKenzie Gore, one of the top prospects acquired from the Padres in the Juan Soto trade last summer, made their Nationals debuts on South Capitol Street during a 3-0 exhibition win over the Yankees in front of 13,012 fans.

The plan for both was to pitch three innings and throw about 50 pitches. But Williams, who had a strong spring, was so efficient, he was able to go out and complete a fourth frame, allowing just one hit, two walks and a hit batter with a strikeout of Aaron Judge and a pickoff at second base on 52 pitches, 30 strikes, over a scoreless outing.

“It was good to complete four. We were shooting for about 50 pitches,” Williams said. “So to get up there, get four ups and have some clean innings was good. It's nice to pitch in a big league atmosphere, a big league stadium. It was a fun first date wearing a white jersey here or white pants here. I took a minute to kind of look around the ballpark from a different angle today and I can't wait to get the regular season started.”

Williams has actually made five appearances (three starts) at Nats Park while being a member of the Pirates and Mets over his seven-year career. But his first appearance with the Nationals, one that still doesn’t officially count, was still about getting ready for when it actually matters.

PLAYER REVIEW: ALEX CALL

Age on opening day 2023: 28

How acquired: Claimed off waivers from Guardians, August 2022

MLB service time: 74 days

2022 salary: $700,000

ATLANTA - Alex Call raced back to the warning track, found the wall, halted, and leapt upward, kicking up dirt and reaching his glove toward the sky.

He missed.

The ball, hit at a 41-degree launch angle, floated inches above Call’s glove, and Austin Riley’s 37th home run of the season landed in the seats just beyond the left field wall.

Even the Braves’ pop-ups are home runs.

Atlanta (92-55) mashed their National League-leading 221st and 222nd homers of the season in a 5-2 win over Washington (51-96) in the series opener on Monday night. The Nationals, meanwhile, scored just two runs on nine hits, keeping their homer total at a paltry 126.